Across The River
Across The River was a stoner rock/desert rock band from the Palm Desert. Known for being a heavy riff driven jam band with lots of distortion and a sense of adventure, Across The River could be seen as the embryo of stoner rock and desert rock, notably Mario Lalli's first band in his teens. The band gained a reputation in their local scene for their outdoor jam shows at generator parties in the desert. Though never releasing anything outside of a demo or even touring, Across The River would lead to or inspire a host of important bands within the genre such as Yawning Man, Kyuss, Fatso Jetson and Queens of the Stone Age just to scratch the surface. History Early Monikers The band started as Dead Issue during the time the members were in high school. The band consisted of bassist Scott Reeder, drummer Alfredo Hernández, guitarist Mario Lalli and guitarist/singer Herb Lineau. The band would change their name to Darkside at some point. Under this name they have released one song (Right's Right) on the soundtrack for Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. The band members were the same age, but were in different schools. The band members Lalli and Lineau played with their sons and Hernández on drums on 27 May 2012 at a benefit concert in the Redwood Bar in Los Angeles in California as "Unsound". Across The River (1985 - 1986) After Lineau left the band, the band name was changed to Across the River. Mark Anderson strengthened the band as a guitarist. They drove in their car "The Provoloan" (a purple '67 Cadillac) for a year through Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco to perform. They mainly played at small and unknown jam parties with bands like October Faction, Painted Willie and Saccharine Trust, but also in the late 80's with bands from the label SST such as: Saint Vitus, SWA, DC3 and FIREHOSE. Hernández described the band as "an animal with blues-like beats with a sharp punk rock edge". The band has recorded one demo (N.O.) that had never been released (Until the 2010s). The song N.O. was later re-recorded by the influential stoner rock band Kyuss for the album Welcome to Sky Valley. Scott Reeder and Alfredo Hernández played together on the last album of this band and the tour that followed until the band collapsed in 1995. The label SST had plans to record an album with Across the River. This did not happen due to miscommunication and poor timing. The band members of Across the River returned to the desert where they were best known for playing in deserted desert towns and generator parties. Lalli got married, had children and put his time in the family restaurant. John Garcia, Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri (former members of the band Kyuss) all had seen this band live during their school period, marking a turning point towards music careers. Hernández and Mario Lalli would add Larry Lalli as bass player and Gary Arce as guitarist to the band. They change the band name to Englenhook in 1987. With this band they worked more and more towards the sound which eventually became Yawning Man. Three of the songs from the demos would be re-recorded with other bands in some capacity. "Back To Zero" and "No Mas" would be recorded by The Obsessed when Scott Reeder joined, both songs appearing on Lunar Womb though the songs were credited to The Obsessed rather than Across The River. On a more well-known note, after Reeder had left The Obsessed to Kyuss he would suggest the band record their own version of "N.O." as a tribute to Across The River. "N.O." would appear on 1994's Welcome to Sky Valley, credited to Lalli & Reeder. A re-recorded version of "The Silver Tree" would appear on Reeder's 2006 solo album TunnelVision Brilliance. Discography * Across The River (1985, Self-Released) Members * Mario Lalli - Guitar, Vocals (1985 - 1986) * Scott Reeder - Bass, Vocals (1985 - 1986) * Alfredo Hernández - Drums, Percussion (1985 - 1986) * Mark Anderson - Guitar (1985 - 1986) External Links *blog Page on the infamous demo *Dutch Wiki page on the band *Article on the demo via The Obelisk *Article via Stage III *Article via La Habitacion 235 *Lo Sound Desert page on Across The River *Live Song from a Generator Party *Live 1986 opening for Vitus *N.O. References Category:Band Category:Across The River Category:Desert Rock Category:Stoner Rock Category:Palm Desert Category:California Category:USA Category:Alfredo Hernandez Category:Mario Lalli Category:Scott Reeder Category:La Quinta Category:1985